Jalaluddin Rumi
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Jalaluddin Rumi

Selected poems

The day I've died

The day I've died, my pall is moving on –
But do not think my heart is still on earth!
Don't weep and pity me:
"Oh woe, how awful!
You fall in devil's snare –"
woe, that is awful!
Don't cry "Woe, parted!" at my burial –
For me this is the time of joyful meeting!
Don't say "Farewell!"
when I'm put in the grave –
A curtain is it for eternal bliss.
You saw "descending" - now look at the rising!
Is setting dangerous for sun and moon?
To you it looks like setting, but it's rising;
The coffin seems a jail, yet it means freedom.
Which seed fell in the earth that did not grow there?
Why do you doubt the fate of human seed?
What bucket came not filled from out the cistern?
Why should the Yusaf
Soul" then fear this well?
Close here your mouth and open it on that side.
So that your hymns may sound in
Where- no-place!

Like this

If anyone asks you
how the perfect satisfaction
of all our sexual wanting
will look,
lift your face
and say,
Like this.
When someone mentions
the gracefulness of the night sky,
climb up on the roof
and dance and say,
Like this.
If anyone wants to know what
spirit is, or what
God’s fragrance means,
lean your head toward him or her.
Keep your face there close.
Like this.
When someone quotes the old poetic image
about clouds gradually uncovering the moon,
slowly loosen knot by knot the strings
of your robe.
Like this.
If anyone wonders
how Jesus raised the dead,
don’t try to explain the miracle.
Kiss me on the lips.
Like this. Like this.
When someone asks
what it means to
die for love, point here.
If someone asks
how tall I am,
frown and measure with your fingers
the space between the creases
on your forehead.
This tall.
The soul sometimes leaves the body,
then returns.
When someone doesn’t believe that,
walk back into my house.
Like this.
When lovers moan,
they’re telling our story.
Like this.
I am a sky where spirits live.
Stare into this deepening blue,
while the breeze says a secret.
Like this.
When someone asks
what there is to do,
light the candle in his hand.
A little wind cleans the eyes.
Like this.
When Shams comes back from Tabriz,
he’ll put just his head around the edge
of the door to surprise us
Like this.

Love is the Water of Life

Everything other than love
for the most beautiful
God though it be sugar- eating.
What is agony of the spirit?
To advance toward death
without seizing hold
of the Water of Life.

The intellectual is always showing off,

The intellectual is always showing off,
the lover is always getting lost.
The intellectual runs away.
afraid of drowning;
the whole business of love
is to drown in the sea.
Intellectuals plan their repose;
lovers are ashamed to rest.
The lover is always alone.
even surrounded by people;
like water and oil, he remains apart.
The man who goes to the trouble of giving
advice to a lover
get nothing.
He's mocked by passion.
Love is like musk. It attracts attention.
Love is a tree, and the lovers are its shade.

A moment of happiness

A moment of happiness,
you and I sitting on the verandah,
apparently two,
but one in soul, you and I.
We feel the flowing water of life here,
you and I,
with the garden's beauty
and the birds singing.
The stars will be watching us,
, and we will show them
what it is to be a thin crescent moon.
You and I unselfed,
will be together,
indifferent to idle speculation, you and I.
The parrots of heaven
will be cracking sugar
as we laugh together, you and I.
In one form upon this earth,
and in another form
in a timeless sweet land.

Lovers

O lovers, lovers it is time
to set out from the world.
I hear a drum in my soul's ear
coming from the depths of the stars.
Our camel driver is at work;
the caravan is being readied.
He asks that we forgive him
for the disturbance he has caused us,
He asks why we travelers are asleep.
Everywhere the murmur of departure;
the stars, like candles
thrust at us from behind blue veils,
and as if to make the invisible plain,
a wondrous people have come for

The day I've died

The day I've died, my pall is moving on –
But do not think my heart is still on earth!
Don't weep and pity me: "
Oh woe, how awful! You fall in devil's snare –"
woe, that is awful!
Don't cry "Woe, parted!" at my burial –
For me this is the time of joyful meeting!
Don't say "Farewell!"
when I'm put in the grave –
A curtain is it for eternal bliss.
You saw "descending" - now look at the rising!
Is setting dangerous for sun and moon?
To you it looks like setting, but it's rising;
The coffin seems a jail, yet it means freedom.
Which seed fell in the earth that did not grow there?
Why do you doubt the fate of human seed?
What bucket came not filled from out the cistern?
Why should the Yusaf
Soul" then fear this well?
Close here your mouth and open it on that side.
So that your hymns may sound in
Where- no-place!

Like this

If anyone asks you
how the perfect satisfaction
of all our sexual wanting
will look,
lift your face
and say,
Like this.
When someone mentions
the gracefulness of the night sky,
climb up on the roof
and dance and say,
Like this.
If anyone wants to know what
spirit is, or what
God’s fragrance means,
lean your head toward him or her.
Keep your face there close.
Like this.
When someone quotes the old poetic image
about clouds gradually uncovering the moon,
slowly loosen knot by knot the strings
of your robe.
Like this.
If anyone wonders
how Jesus raised the dead,
don’t try to explain the miracle.
Kiss me on the lips.
Like this. Like this.
When someone asks
what it means to
die for love, point here.
If someone asks
how tall I am,
frown and measure with your fingers
the space between the creases
on your forehead.
This tall.
The soul sometimes leaves the body,
then returns.
When someone doesn’t believe that,
walk back into my house.
Like this.
When lovers moan,
they’re telling our story.
Like this.
I am a sky where spirits live.
Stare into this deepening blue,
while the breeze says a secret.
Like this.
When someone asks
what there is to do,
light the candle in his hand.
A little wind cleans the eyes.
Like this.
When Shams comes back from Tabriz,
he’ll put just his head around the edge
of the door to surprise us
Like this.

Love is the Water of Life

Everything other than love
for the most beautiful
God though it be sugar- eating.
What is agony of the spirit?
To advance toward death
without seizing hold
of the Water of Life.
The intellectual is always showing off,
The intellectual is always showing off,
the lover is always getting lost.
The intellectual runs away.
afraid of drowning;
the whole business of love
is to drown in the sea.
Intellectuals plan their repose;
lovers are ashamed to rest.
The lover is always alone.
even surrounded by people;
like water and oil, he remains apart.
The man who goes to the trouble of giving
advice to a lover
get nothing.
He's mocked by passion.
Love is like musk. It attracts attention.
Love is a tree, and the lovers are its shade.
A moment of happiness
A moment of happiness,
you and I sitting on the verandah,
apparently two,
but one in soul, you and I.
We feel the flowing water of life here,
you and I,
with the garden's beauty
and the birds singing.
The stars will be watching us,
, and we will show them
what it is to be a thin crescent moon.
You and I unselfed,
will be together,
indifferent to idle speculation, you and I.
The parrots of heaven
will be cracking sugar
as we laugh together, you and I.
In one form upon this earth,
and in another form
in a timeless sweet land.

Lovers

O lovers, lovers it is time
to set out from the world.
I hear a drum in my soul's ear
coming from the depths of the stars.
Our camel driver is at work;
the caravan is being readied.
He asks that we forgive him
for the disturbance he has caused us,
He asks why we travelers are asleep.
Everywhere the murmur of departure;
the stars, like candles
thrust at us from behind blue veils,
and as if to make the invisible plain,
a wondrous people have come for